Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company to $107.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays began coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $106.76 on Tuesday. Aflac has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $111.22 and a 200-day moving average of $101.93. The company has a market capitalization of $59.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.